Fang Ride Or Not?
by Puppy Soul
Summary: This is a story of what I think should have happened in FANG, the sixth book. Please R&R, I wanna know what you think! Also, Faxness alert!
1. Prologue

Let me tell you, flying has got to be the best feeling in the whole world. You should try! Maybe someday you could find a way to make the School think you were worthy, and get your own wings grafted on. Then I could tech you the basics of flying! Fun, right? Oh, wait, I forgot myself for a moment there. If you work for the whitecoats, it's a free way to catch me (and the flock). If you don't, it's a free way into a troublesome rest of your life. So no matter who you are, teach yourself how to fly, alright?

In case you're new to my life, welcome! I am a highly evolved experiment produced in a lab called the School, by the sickest, most horrible scientists you could ever imagine. Don't look at me like that, it's true! All their testing and needles and other stuff I don't think you need to know about left me and my pals only 98% human. The other 2%, you ask? Well, it's avian. In simple words, bird. You see, me and my six best friends have wings, and raptor vision, and superstrength, among a bunch of other odd abilities. Not your average kids.

My name is Maximum Ride. I am 14 years old with speckled brown and white wings. I am the leader of the flock, who can breathe under water, fly double the speed of the others, and has an annoying Voice in the head. Next oldest is Fang, or Mr. Black. Everything about him has to do with black, like his obsidian eyes. I'm sorta kinda madly in love with him, even when he's getting on my nerves because he's invisible or not coming upo from under water. Then there's Iggy, the bling chef and pyro-boy. He can make a bomb out of literally anything you give him. He can also feel colors. Nudge is 11 going on 16. She absolutely must have everything cute and fashionable. She can act as an avian-american magnet when she wants to. Gazzy is, well, has, a disastrous problem which is unmentionable, and he can mimic anything entirely correct. Angel is totally adorable, but don't let that fool you! She can control your mind any day! (As well as talk to animals, turn into a bird of paradise, read your mind, and breathe under water)

We've been on the run from the wacko scientists who created us for almost five years now. Our somewhat friend, Jeb Batchelder, rescued us from the School and hid with us for 2 years. Then he disappeared. A few years later he reappeared, looking like one of the whitecoats and controlling our enemies. His son, Ari, was an Eraser. They were a lupine-human hybrid.

I'm tired of all this explaining, already! Enough is enough! Read my other books if you want the whole story because I don't have time for this! if I write it the least you can do is read it!

Oh, wait, I almost forgot to tell you something... DO NOT STOP READING THIS! THE FATE OF THE WORLD DEPENDS ON IT! I'm serious! Without your help I could never save the entire freaking world from monstrous billionaires! All you have to do is:

1) Take a deep breath

2) Take me, my flock, and my story seriously

3) Continue to the next chapter...


	2. The Plan

I was flying solo over a large forest. National forest, probably. It was so pretty, with all those big trees! Anyway, I was keeping a sharp eye out for anything moving. The flock is in here somewhere! I've just finished up with the latest CSM meeting, and now it's time to rejoin with the rest of the flock and continue on our merry way. As soon as I can find them!

At the meeting we talked about how to update the CSM pamphlets, and how to distribute them so people actually read them. Other than air shows, of course. That didn't work last time and won't work this time either. We came up with a big fat nothing, and the meeting ended right there. So here I am, flying to my best friends in the whole world. I can't wait!

Ooh! Circle back, dip slightly, angle down... there they are! I can see Angel's blond curls whipping around her head as she dives into a little pond near their camp, Gazzy and Iggy hiding behind a tree holding something, and Nudge's mouth moving a hundred words per minute to Fang, who looked disinterested in whatever it was she had to say.

I took a dive myself, at an awesome 250 miles an hour. Let me tell you, I had to brake really fast to avoid crashing into a tree on my way down. Whoops! But then I landed, and the flock was all over me. Angel and Gazzy were hugging me, Nudge was asking about the meeting, Iggy was stowing away what he and Gazzy had been working on. Where was Fang? I saw him a moment ago, didn't I? Oh, yeah, he's hiding invisibly. Sigh. This is getting so old.

Suddenly, I felt strong, hard arms wrap around me from behind and pull me away from Angel and Gazzy. Whoever it was pulled me in tight and rested their head on mine. The flock snickered, but in truth, this made my day a heck of a lot better. Fang leaned down and whispered in my ear, "What took you so long? I missed you!" I pulled his head down and kissed him. He smiled and brushed some hair out of my face. God, I loved him so much! He was everything I wanted, needed, and more!

Angel interrupted my thoughts by saying, in my mind of course, "Can you guys do this later, like, when we're asleep? I want to know what happened at the meeting! So does everyone else!" I said out loud, looking at her with my death glare, "Sure, sweetie, I'm just so happy to see you guys!" We walked out of the woods to the camp and sat around our bagpile. Iggy was the first to speak.

"So, are you really happy to see us, or just soooooo happy to see Fang that you don't care about us either way?" I smacked his arm and he laughed. "No, Ig, I'm happy to see you. What, did you think I was the Max Clone II or something? I love all you guys! And don't you ever forget it!" Angel snickered. "What?" I asked innocently. "You don't make a very good liar," she replied. The flock laughed while I gave her a superstrength death glare. "What do you know? The skinny little girl who I've saved just about a million times from someone or other can't shut her mouth!" To that I only got more laughs. Fang got what I meant, though. "Guys, stop it! Let Max speak! We want to hear about the CSM meeting, not how much she loves me, right?" He somehow managed to keep a straight face. "'Cause she does love me. She loves me soooooooo much. This much!" He held out his arms as wide as can be. I tackled him to the ground and smacked his chest. I heard his breath leave with an audible "oof!" He groan-whispered, "Okay, alright. I'm done. Now will you get off me so I can breathe? 'Cause if you don't I won't be around for you to love very much longer!"

I gave him one last shove and stood back up. By now, the rest of the flock was in tears over the scene. Fang slowly regained the right to breathe as I began to tell my story.

Fang POV:

So, Max was at this CSM planning meeting. I'm still not sure why the rest of us weren't allowed to go. I mean, we're the flock! The bird-kids! Genetically enhanced freaks who work as poster-mutants! We're what the meeting was about! But only Max was permitted to go, so we waited for her here at the camp.

It seemed to take forever for her to get back. Love hurts sometimes, like when you're waiting for news from them. Max's sun-streaked brown hair and chocolatey-brown eyes were so amazingly cute. When I looked in her eyes, it made me want her in the worst way. Until our Hawaii mission, I had thought that Max didn't love me back, but I kept trying. Then I took her on a date and she chose me! I was so happy at that moment.

Focus! You're supposed to be listening to what happened, Fang, not your own thoughts! I strained to come back to Earth. Finally I could hear her again. She was saying some stuff about how the CSM was updating their hand-out information so people were more likely to read and understand it. Then she moved to the second piece of the meeting, when they discussed ho to promote the pamphlets to the public. I had to ask, just had to. "Not air shows again, right? That won't work! It made our enemies able to target us way too easily!"

Max turned to face me. With the sunlight streaming down her face in untouchable lines, I wanted to kiss her so badly, make her forget what she was doing, like kissing me always did to her. But I didn't, of course.

"Nope, no air shows. Something about how we need to stay safe and hidden until our enemies are all gone for good. but we couldn't come up with anything particularly useful, helpful, or worthwhile, so the meeting ended. Then I flew back here to you guys. Like I would go anywhere else!" Something about her stance, her voice, her eyes, the way she stared at me, made me think she wanted alone time too. But neither of us made a move. "Anyway, time to get this show on the road, again! We need to get moving! it's time I get to it on saving the world, as Jeb and the Voice always say. Let's go find the Director and finish her off once and for all!" This was greeted by cheers and laughter from the flock. We picked up our bags, destroyed our camp, and took off into the dark night sky.


	3. Memories

Angel POV:

It felt so good to be in the air again, with Max in the lead. We were in a tight pyramid formation: Max out front, Fang and Iggy next row, Gazzy and Nudge in the last row on either side of me. I was riding the currents of the others.

Finding the Director won't be so easy, I heard coming from someone's mind. Max. Okay, focus Angel, listen to this! We already blew up Lendeheim Itex, so she's not there. Where are the other schools we know of? Oh, right, the Institute, and that other school in Europe. Where to go, where to go?

So Max didn't really know where they were going! Personally, I prefer Europe, but that's not what she needs to hear. I sent her a thought.

*Conversation in Max's Mind*

Go to the Institute, Max.

Are you the Voice or Angel, little fortune cookie?

Angel.

Oh, thanks sweetie, but how are you sure?

She thinks that since we already went there you wouldn't worry about it, so she'd go there to hide. She probably knows you're going to want to kill her at some point and go looking!

Right, right. We'll go to the Institute. Thanks Ange!

You're welcome. Bye!

*End of Conversation*

Max POV:

Angel just told me to go to the Institute. I hated that place, underneath New York. To get there, you have to go through a complex maze of subway tunnels and the sewer system, and then open a locked door and climb a bunch of stairs. Fun, right? But if that's where Marian Janssen is, I'll deal.

When we were in Europe, she pretended to be my mom. She almost had me killed before blog readers saved us all from her wrath. I almost killed her, and now I am coming back to finish the job. She better watch her back because the Institute is pretty small!

We're just passing over the border of New York. I remember how many people there were and tell the flock to land so we can be as inconspicuous as possible. We'd just flown around 6 hours from a national park near my mom's house in Arizona to a crowded city where we planned to go sewer walking. Sound a little backward to you there? There's my life in a nutshell! Here it is... the subway entrance. "All aboard the Train for World-Saving Mutants! Or whatever you call it when six avian-Americans walk through a subway system looking for a certain metal grate to climb into." I'm rewarded with a few snickers and grins. But we're all grimly focused on the task at hand.

It was much easier than the last time to find the grate, because we've done it before. I unscrewed it, they'd obviously redone the latch since the last time we broke in because it took me extra Maximum strength to pop it. I went down first. I tried to get Fang to go, but he only shrugged, grinning, and said, "After you, my lady!"

Eew, that smell, it brings back old memories long buried. I thought I'd forgotten my escape, and Jeb screaming after me "You killed your own brother!" Apparently not, cause I was having a mental breakdown right now.

To add to it, my Voice gave me another brain attack. My skull was bursting through with pain, I thought it would break in two. I staggered back and fell against the tunnel wall. Angel sent me a thought asking if I was okay, but I was too out of it to even think a reply. I just sat there, holding my head, knuckles white, breathing heavy for a long time. I gradually became aware that someone was holding me tight against them. Fang, as always. I gratefully laid my head down on his chest until all the pain subsided and I could think my own words again. "Thank you" were the first words that came out, directed at Fang. He nodded. We all stood up, ready to move on. Fang let me go so I could walk. I took a step, before turning around to look what was behind me, and walking literally right into the arms of the waiting Director.


	4. Capture

Fang POV:

I can't believe how stupid that was! "Max! Fight back! She's only human, you want to kill her!" I shouted, but the Director wasn't only human. She was part Galapagos Tortoise. So although she moved quite slowly and we went quite fast, her weight alone could stop us from destroying her before she got away with Max.

So Angel was right. The Director is at the Institute. And coming here may have just cost Max her life. Grr!

I gritted my teeth and tried not to think about it. instead, I focused on bypassing the Director so I could bar her way into the Institute. I made it just in time to see Max being thrown down the stairs and the door was shut in my face.

I felt paralyzed, and sank to my knees. No, it couldn't be. Max the Leader, Max the Invincible, Maximum Ride the Great, my girlfriend, has just been taken hostage in our enemy building, by the enemy we have been planning to get rid of. It's just so not fair! We're finally together, she finally realizes she loves me, and Max is taken from me for what could be forever.

Angel came up beside me and saw my teary eyes. I never cry, so she knew what happened right away. Nudge came over with giant eyes. "I promise we'll get Max back for you, Fang. I promise. We can't live without her either, you know that?" That mad me feel a little better, but I couldn't get the image of Max being tossed down the steps like a ragdoll out of my head. I realized at that moment that I was now the oldest. I had to be the leader. I stood up, brushing off the dirt. "Okay, guys, I-" I was cut off by Angel, who said that I should go back to the train tunnel and wait for them there so I didn't have to see her if Max was hurt. I agreed and went back to the subway area. Who was going to lead, Angel? She's only six! They'll never get Max back!

The others don't know yet, because Angel and I have kept it a secret, but she can see the future. She saw me dead and the rest of them alive. Is this the part where I die, because I'm sad over Max? They can't see me die, they just can't. I'm going to have to leave them to get Max, in case they die, or I die. I'll leave them and fall asleep in peace, forever...


	5. Dylan

Max POV:

I was being pushed through the sewer system, tossed through the air, landing on hard, unforgiving stone steps. The entrance to the Institute. My leg hurt bad, and I couldn't stand on it. I began to crawl up to the door to see if it was open. Marian Janssen, otherwise known as the Director, slammed it shut. But not before I saw one last piece of my real life, my flock, my family. I saw Fang's teary eyes, shocked beyond belief, staring right into my lazy-butt own eyes. Then he was gone, just a memory, and I was being moved again. I swung my arms, screaming and crying. But I was too weak. All I could see was Fang's silently crying face. Fang never cries! What happened to me? Why was I entering the Institute carried by the Director, instead of creeping in with my flock? I must have hit my head on something to not remember something as important as that!

Oh yeah, now I remember! We were trying to get here, I had a brain attack, Fang calmed me down, and when I took a step the Director must've grabbed me! How clever, I must say! So, Fang was sad because he thinks I'm going to die? That he'll never see me again? Why else could he be so neurotic to cry? I mean, like, come on, he's Fang! Fang doesn't cry! Ever! Maybe Angel has some freaky new power that worried him. I need to talk to her about that kind of stuff. I'm the freaking leader! I need to know too!

For now focus on the immediate task, my Voice chimed in. What, you don't have a Voice in your head? You can buy 'em at Target! They give you fortune cookie advice and brain attacks. You should get one! Like I haven't figured that out yet, I thought back snidely. It didn't answer, of course. it never answers direct questions or comments.

Hey! I stopped moving! Where am I? I slowly sat up, waking from my somewhat concussion. I was in an all white room, surrounded by cages. I was in the experiment lab. How weird, the ages all seem to be empty. Looks like for this escape I only have to worry about myself.

Wait, what was that? I swear I just saw something move in a far cage. Something feathery and large. I leaned over the edge of the table I was strapped to to get a closer look.

It was a bird boy, looked about my age. His name card read Dylan. His wings were a tawny gold, and he looked neat and perfect. He was the only experiment here, and he looked successful. Man, he must be so bored! I had to get him and myself out of here.

I took another look around. On second glance, I could probably smack open the door and make a run for it. I remembered the layout of the place from my earlier break-out escapade here.

First, I need to get these annoying little straps off. I tugged and my wrists came free. They must be really dumb to make straps this weak! Uh oh. My leg. I'd completely forgotten my injury in all my confusion! Funny thing, it didn't hurt anymore. Odd. I ripped off the leg and waist straps. I tested my weight one foot at a time, putting a careful amount of pressure on each leg. I could stand! The whitecoats must've thought I was "damaged", like the Uber-Director thought Angel was, and fixed me right up.

How long had I been out for? I don't know, but my guess was too long. I silently crept up to Dylan's dog crate and unlatched it. The noise stirred him awake, he probably thought I was a scientist coming to test him on something. I was way better than that, I was his saviour! He just stared at me, eyes wide with disbelief, body tense with uncertainty, mouth open in shock. "May I help you out of this horrible mess of a lab?" I asked him. I snickered. He seemed paralyzed, like he hadn't expected to ever be free. I grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the cage. "Come on, Dylan, do you really want the whitecoats to find out we're gone, or do you want to escape into a free world?" That got him moving. He sprang into action like all you had to do was flick a switch, and boom! He was everywhere, re-latching his crate, re-doing my straps, re-setting the alarm, unlocking the door to the stairwell, all at once. I didn't know anyone could move that fast! It must be a superpower at work. Oh well, I'll deal with it later. It's breakout time! "You have to go down those stair, then through a doorway, then up a bunch more, out another door with no handle. You come out in a sewer tunnel, I'll take the lead from there. Can you fly?" Dylan nodded. "Follow me, and here we go!" I said, already out the door and up a couple steps. Dylan was hot on my trail. We made it all the way to the second door before any type of alarm went off. I stared at Dylan. "Didn't you just reset the alarms?"

"Yeah, guess I forgot one, huh?" he replied. Wow, his voice was amazing! It sounded so smooth, like an Angel's. I wonder what life he was taken from? I charged a little ways, then snapped out my wings, hovering over the sewer water. I waited for Dylan to follow.

I was starting to get a weird emotion by being with Dylan. What was that about? I guess I'll find out soon, but I can't shake this thing. It feels almost like...love.


	6. Emotion Twist

Nudge POV:

Max would've flown right into me if I hadn't been paying attention (somewhat) to my surroundings while listening to Angel's plan! We were just about to break into the Institute (again), form a jailbreak of sorts, and come out again with our flock in it's entirety when she came barreling towards us. I jolted downward, almost hitting the yucky water, and like, that would so totally have ruined my outfit! Like, mud isn't a style!

_Can it Nudge, Max is alive! Max is here! We're happy to see her and we're telling Fang about it not going on about fashion!_

Well I was thinking it not saying it! But I guess Angel doesn't care either way since she hears both. Ya know, she can be a lot like Max sometimes! Anyway, back to the present action...

Max had landed on the ledge beside us. Angel, Nudge and I scrambled across and wrapped her in a hug. Iggy tried but missed and we laughed. "Hey, what's so funny? I'm a blind guy in a sewer tunnel! Come on, gimme some slack!" he said. This only made us laugh harder.

"So, if I may, can I ask what you guys happen to be doing here outside an evil genetic lab where I was just captured without Fang?" Max directed her question to Angel and I. Smart thinking 'cause Gaz and Ig probably wouldn't know. Max looked like she was concentrating. The Voice again? Na, it's just Angel telling her what happened. "I see. Can't we go get him? I do wanna see him you know! And he will want to see me! Ooo! I have a funny plan! Ange, would you please tell everyone in case somebody is listening right now?" Wow, I never new Max was such a chatterbox! Just then I got Angel's message:

_Kay guys, so, Max wants us to go up to the subway tracks and find Fang, leaving her here first. We'll tell Fang a story about how she died, and Max will be close enough to see his reaction. Then after we get him to cry Max will come out! Like it? Well, doesn't matter anyway 'cause we're movin'. Let's go!_

I agree, I thought, and Angel nodded. We jumped up into the air again, leaving Max on the ledge to wait. Wait a minute, there's somebody with her! Has he been there the whole time? Does he know what we're doing? Does he work for the Director? Just in case I shouted, "Max! Behind you!" At the same time as both Iggy and Gazzy did. Guess we had the same though line. "Relax, it's alright, this is Dylan. He's a friend, he's Like Us, and he helped me escape. I broke him out with me." Suddenly she seemed to explode with anger. "ANGEL! DON'T YOU DARE! THAT IS SOO NOT TRUE! I LOVE FANG YOU PERVERTED TWERP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. We all stuffed our ears with our fingers. God she was loud! "I think my eardrums got shattered!" commented Gazzy. "Ya think?" I said back. "Sorry. New power," Max shrugged. God that was loud! It could break metal it was so strong!

Wait a minute, Max was creaming how she loved Fang. That probably means Angel thought to her about loving someone else. And her Voice probably added. Now, who else is here who she could hit on? Right. Dylan. Oh god, this was SOO not good. Max liked Dylan? What would Fang say? FANG! "GUYS! Stop staring and get the plan in action Fang's waiting!" I practically shouted. We turned around and flew out the entrance to the sewers into the subway system.

Max POV:

I CANNOT believe Angel just thought that! So not true! Fang is my soulmate not Dylan! But I had been starting to get butterflies around him, so I can't blame her. Boy do I wonder what fresh hell this will cause by Fang! Crap!

I realized Dylan was staring at me as if in a trance. "What? Do i have blood on my face?" I asked. "No, you're just, uh... cute! There I said it! You're pretty, Max. Fang is so lucky to have you." he burst. OMG! Dylan crushed on me! I was gonna have to watch one major guy-fight when we met up with Fang.

It's because Dylan is your perfect other half.

WHAT? ANGEL WHAT KIND OF A PRANK IS THIS?

This isn't Angel, Max. Think!

Voice. Long time no annoy.

You love Dylan because he was made for your love. Fang wasn't, not this way. Fang has a perfect other half as well.

What are you talking about? Fang and I are soulmates! We love each other not some other weirdo experiments! You're going psycho on me!

No I'm not, Max, you just don't want to accept the truth. You and Fang are over now. Fang will soon meet his other half and they will form a flock of their own. Dylan will join your flock, in Fang's place. And Fang will die before Dylan does. He will die soon, after he meets his perfect other half.

YOU'RE WRONG! THERE'S NO WAY THIS CRAP IS TRUE! What is Fang's "perfect half"'s name?

I can't tell you. You're going into a trance, Max. Wake up and smell the coffee. Talk to you later, dumb-butt! And don't forget about saving the world!


End file.
